Sowing & Reaping

I wanted to write a blog about something the Lord had been showing me.  I could not think of a way to start it so I began with writing the second and third paragraphs instead.  I then decided to save the draft and run to the corner store for a soda.  When I left the store a young man was walking in.  He was dirty with huge gages in his ears. As I walked outside I noticed a young girl on foot who was obviously paired up with that young man.  They both had the big gages and looked equally disheveled. She was talking to another young woman who was sitting in a parked car.  The woman in the parked car was waiting for the driver of the car who was in the store buying cigarrettes and a case of beer behind me in line.  I noticed that the young woman in the car was shaming the girl who was pared up with the dirty young man; "Those gages in your ear will mess up your ears." And, "are you on birth control? You don't want to get pregnant with that guy."

I wondered if this girl had walked up to the young woman in the car and asked for money.  I could almost feel the girls shame as she left the car and walked across the parking lot.  It was clear to me that this woman in the car did not understand that shaming someone does not bring change.  We see so many times in the Bible that Jesus loved the sinner whom he was talking to and jumped into the person's pain with them and took the time to explain to them the better way to live.  The only times in scripture we see Jesus being consistently harsh was when he addressed the self-righteous religious people.

I believe that God wants his people to understand a spiritual law that if broken will keep his people enrobed in frustration and will hinder an abundant life. But in order for people to receive His teachings they first must understand that Jesus is not like that woman mentioned above who sat in the car shaming the outward appearance or even the sins we have hidden inside.  God brings conviction and restoration, not shame and condemnation.

The spiritual law is that of reaping and sowing. Scripture gives us so many pictures of our lives being parallel with how things grow in nature.  When we sow seeds like a farmer does, we will reap whatever seed we planted. Sow carrot seeds, reap carrots. Sow peach pits, reap a peach tree.  So it is with our lives. When we sow obedience to the scripture we know, we will then reap a harvest of blessings.  When we sow disobedience to his word, we will reap destruction.

When a farmer sows his seed he does not reap immediate results.  He must first cultivate his seeds with the proper nutrients, especially the nutrient of time.  Time requires patience on the part of the farmer.  So it is in our lives. When we start obeying the spiritual laws written out for us in the Bible we need to cultivate these seeds with faith and patience. Two days of abstaining from obsessive shopping, alcohol abuse, or a sexual addiction does not turn a planted seed into a full grown tree.  It takes time and continued faithfulness to break these addictions off our lives.

The fruit from a tree is the crowning purpose and finished product of a plant. The fruit once started as a seed that was sown. Continued trust in a good heavenly father who knows what is best for us is the only way we will see this crowning fruit in our lives. The fruit is what others can get from us to nourish and heal themselves with.  God's desire is always to produce this choice fruit in our lives.  He will even prune his peoples branches in order to produce more fruit! Pruning is usually the equivalent of having us go through trials to make us stronger and more enduring of hardship.

Let the seeds sprout, let them have their time in the ground to germinate, let them be young plants in the sun. Do not throw away the progress in your life and give up because the harvest is not yet visible.  Harvests take time and are nourished one day at a time.

"So let us not get tired of doing what is good. For at the proper time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up."  Galatians 6:9

"Do not be deceived: God will not be mocked. A man will reap whatever he has sown." Galatians 6:7

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Isaiah 55:8